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which going on his mind p. 127. Thus, a character is an individual who is portrayed through his appearances, conversations, actions, names, and thoughts in
a literary work.
1. Sources of a Character
The making of a character in a literary work is based on some sources. Schoonderwoerd and Laar 1963 define two sources of a character; “creative
imagination and actual life” p. 164. A character in a literary work is based on the author‟s imagination or a real person. However, Schoonderwoerd and Laar 1963
assert that the author‟s imaginative character should still resemble an individual.
They emphasize that a pure fictitious character is “nearly unsatisfactory” p. 165. Although the character cannot be found in the real life, the character should have
natures of an individual. A pure imaginative character may be unrecognizable and unsatisfactory because of the extremely fictitious nature. For example, an author
creates a character that purely comes from his imagination. The character‟s physical appearance does not resemble an individual. It does not speak nor behave
the way an individual do. Readers will have no clue about the character; it will not be recognized as a character. In line with Schoonderwoerd and Laar, Meredith and
Fitzgerald 1972 believe that, “even when an author creates what he thinks is a purely fictional character, the character will have traits that the author has
observed in people in real life”. Meredith and Fitzgerald 1972 re-assert Scchoenderwoerd and Laar‟s statement; imaginative character should still
resemble individual‟s traits or natures. They state that “primary source of fictional PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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characters is life” p. 112. Sources of a literary character, author‟s imagination and a real life person, should resemble an individual.
2. Types of a Character
A character in a literary work can be categorized into some types. Forster 1972 as cited by Abrams 1985 introduces a distinction between the round and
flat type of a character. A flat character is a built- around “single idea or quality”
character. It is presented without many individual details and can be described in a single phrase or a sentence. For example, a fruit seller character only appears once
when the other characters buy fruits. This fruit seller character is identifiable as a character because of its identity as a fruit seller. However, it does not have many
individual details. It can also be described in a single sentence; a fruit seller character. Round character, vice versa, is a complex character. This character is
difficult to be described because of its capability to surprise readers p. 24. Sherlock Holmes in the Sherlock Holmes novel is an example of a round
character. He has many individual details that are developed throughout the story in the novel. It is insufficient to describe Sherlock Holmes as a character in
Sherlock Holmes novel only in a sentence. Henkle 1977 also proposes a classification of character types. He proposes two types of character, namely a
major and a minor character p. 88. This classification is ba sed on the character‟s
role in the development of the story. Major character has a significant role in the plot of the story while the minor has insignificant role. Forster‟s and Henkle‟s
classifications of character‟s types are derived from different perspectives. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
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Forster‟s is derived from the character‟s complexity range of description. Henkle‟s is derived from the character‟s role in the story.
b. Charaterization
Characterization, in its connection with a character, is the method of portraying chara
cter. According to Gill 1995, “Characterization is a method and character is the product”. Gill defines that a character must have an “identity” or a
personality. Presenting a character‟s personality is considered as a method to produce a character. For example, an author wants to create a character with a
sadistic personality. To do so, the author frequently presents murder events in which the character is put as the murder or the tyrant. The way the author put the
character as the murder or the tyrant i s the method to present the character‟s
personality. The character is identifiable for its personality. Thus, it is called the characterization. In addition to Gill, Meredith and Fitzgerald 1972 also proclaim
that characterization is, “the use to which each character puts the traits with which he or she is endowed” p. 106. They point out that a character‟s traits or
personalities are “endowed”. A character‟s personality is put on the author‟s need for the story. Meredith and Fitzgerald 1972 highlight that the portrayal of a
character‟s personality should be in line with his role in the story. Their definition of characterization is similar to Gill‟s. Both define characterization as a method to
present a character through the traits or personalities. The difference is in Meredith and Fitzgerald‟s emphasis on the role of characterization in the plot of
the story. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
